Current Affairs, News & Facts of 14 Apr 2016

India stood at the 44th position among 50 different countries as per the recent Global Connectivity Index report, 2016 compiled by Chinese telecom giant Huawei.

The report, measures the progress of 50 nations in investment and deployment of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure including broadband, data centers, cloud services, big data and IoT on a score scale of 0-100. These 50 countries, account for 90 percent of global GDP and and 78% of the global population.

Comment : India has a GCI score of 30, this puts the country among ‘Starters’ who are still working on building a reliable connectivity, and on spreading the connection base but with India’s flagship initiatives like ‘Digital India’ the situation might change rapidly next year as such initiative will enable last-mile connectivity.

Tiny South Pacific island nation Nauru has become the 189th member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, i.e. Bretton-Woods institutions.

Nauru applied for membership in the Washington-based IMF and World Bank in April 2014, after joining the United Nations in 1996 as the world's smallest independent republic. Before Nauru, the last country to join the IMF and World Bank was South Sudan, in April 2012.

By joining the World Bank :By joining the World Bank, Nauru gains access to financial support, technical support and special expertise in dealing with Pacific area issues, such as water and sanitation and disaster risk management amid the threat of climate change and rising sea levels.

By joining the IMF : By joining the IMF Nauru can benefit from the crisis lender’s advice on managing government finances and monetary policy. Its initial subscription quota for IMF will be of SDR (Special Drawing rights) 2 million or about $2.81 million. It will be the second smallest member of the Fund, after Tuvalu.

The Republic of Nauru

Nauru formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia, northeast of Australia. With 9,488 residents in a 21-square-kilometre (8.1 sq mi) area, Nauru is the smallest state in the South Pacific and third smallest state by area in the world, behind only Vatican City and Monaco. The Australian dollar is the currency of Narau. It had joined United Nations (UN) in 1996 as the world’s smallest independent republic.

Missile Test : Altogether six rounds of the missiles were fired. The missiles were fired against Pilot less target aircraft (PTA) Lakshya, Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Banshee and Para-barrel, two times each. It successfully destroyed the targets coordinated by the user, demonstrating its ‘killing’ efficiency.

About Akash Missile :

Akash Missile is a medium-range surface-to-air anti-aircraft defence system developed by DRDO as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP).

Range : It can fly at a supersonic speed ranging from Mach 2.8 to 3.5 and can engage aerial targets upto a range of approximately 25 km.

Akash has the capability to neutralise aerial targets like fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles. The missile was formally inducted into the IAF in July 2015.

Features: The missile has supersonic speeds ranging from Mach 2.8 to 3.5. It is multi target, multi directional, all weather air-defence system consisting of surveillance and tracking radars.

India has joined hands with Germany to attain "pristine" status of Ganga by adopting river basin management strategies used by Germany for cleansing rivers like Rhine and Danube of pollutants.

Agreement in this regard was signed between the Union Ministry of Water Resources and German International Cooperation (GIZ) of Germany.

This approach will be based on Indo-German Knowledge (IGK) exchange and practical experience on strategic river basin management issues, public engagement and effective data management system.

Initial actions will focus on Uttarakhand, with scope of expansion to other upstream Ganga States.The duration of the project is three years and the German contribution in the project will be to the tune of 22.5 crore rupees.

South Korea’s main opposition party "Minjoo Party of Korea" has won 123 seats out of 300 seats while the centre-right Saenuri party has won 122 seats. With this the governing party in South Korea has lost the parliamentary majority it has held for 16 years.

It was for the first time since 1999 that the conservative party has lost control of parliament, with the three opposition parties garnering a combined 167 seats, well over the majority.

Elections in South Korea

The president is directly elected for a single five-year term by plurality vote. The National Assembly has 300 members elected for a four-year term, 253 in single-seat constituencies and 47 proportional representation seats are allocated to parties according to the numbers of votes they receive overall. South Korea has a multi-party system, with two dominant parties and numerous third parties.

India was the world's largest remittance recipient in 2015 attracting about USD 69 billion in remittances, down from USD 70 billion in 2014, the World Bank said in its annual report 'Migration and Development Brief'.

Global remittances, which include those to high-income countries, contracted by 1.7 per cent to 581 billion US dollar in 2015, from 592 billion in 2014.

According to the report, the growth of remittances in 2015 slowed from eight per cent in 2014 to 2.5 per cent for Bangladesh, from 16.7 per cent to 12.8 per cent for Pakistan, and from 9.6 per cent to 0.5 per cent for Sri Lanka.

Remittances to Nepal rose dramatically in response to the earthquake, by 20.9 per cent in 2015 versus 3.2 per cent in 2014. It should be noted that remittances to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh exceeded six per cent of GDP in 2014.

Remittances to India : Remittances to India are money transfers from Non-resident Indians (NRIs), employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives in India. India is the world's leading receiver of remittances.

Six years after a violent revolution in Kyrgyzstan that claimed hundreds of lives, the parliament of Kyrgyzstan has approved Sooronbai Jeenbekov for the post of the country's prime minister.

He will replace Temir Sariyev who resigned amid a national scandal surrounding violations in a highway construction tender.

Jeenbekov, 50, was educated as a zoological engineer and in the beginning of his career worked as a teacher, livestock specialist, and the director of a communal farm.

He previously served as the country's agriculture, water, and reprocessing industry minister and as plenipotentiary representative of Kyrgyzstan's government in the southern Osh Province.

About Kyrgyzstan

(1) Kyrgyzstan is one of the poorest countries that emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and is strongly dependent on remittances sent home by migrants working in Russia.

(2) The national economy of Kyrgyzstan has taken a sharp hit from the collapse of the Russian ruble that has affected its own national currency, the som, and slowed production at the country’s Kumtor gold mine, one of the country’s biggest assets.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally launch a National Agriculture Market (NAM) portal to connect e-mandis in several states at a function in New Delhi, on the 125th birth anniversary of Bhim Rao Ambedkar. 21 mandis from 8 States will join the platform today.

The national agriculture market will enable farmers in eight states to sell 25 commodities online in 21 wholesale mandis and get better prices.

The government is aiming to integrate 200 mandis by September this year and entire 585 mandis by March 2018. About 200 crore rupees has been sanctioned for this purpose.

The online trade will initially be allowed within the state and inter-state trade will be possible once all states and mandis are integrated.

To integrate a wholesale mandi with the online platform, the state governments have to amend their Agriculture Produce Market Committee Act.

The 12 states that are part of the pilot programme are Gujarat, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

The government has listed 25 commodities, including wheat, maize, chana, jowar, bajra, potato and cotton to be traded with National Agriculture Market (NAM).

Latest Tidbids

India and South Africa have inked four Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) in four areas of co-operation including Information and Communication technology, Tourism, Grass root innovation and 'art, culture' sport.

These MoUs were signed in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Juma in Pretoria, South Africa.

Agreements signed are :

MoU on Tourism.

MoU on Grass root innovation (Science and Technology).

MoU on Information and Communication technology (ICT).

Programme of Cooperation in Arts and Culture.

The visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi marks another glorious chapter in India-South Africa relations, which have travelled from the fight against racial prejudice to a resolve to join hands and realize potential in trade and commerce ties. India also thanked the South African President for support to India’s NSG membership.

Jul 07, 2016Union Cabinet approves MoU between India and Mauritius in the field of Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given it's approval for signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Mauritius.The MoU will encourage cooperation in the field of rural development and capacity building on the basis of equality and mutual benefit between both countries.

Key Facts about the MoU :

Under the MoU, a Joint Committee on Cooperation on Rural Development will be established which will meet alternatively in both countries on mutually agreed dates.

The MoU will help to establish a framework for cooperation between the National Development Unit of Mauritius and Union Ministry of Rural Development in the sphere of rural development.

Both countries have agreed to coordinate and facilitate appropriate technical cooperation, exchange of relevant information and documents in the sphere of rural development, including scientific and technical information to foster rural development.

Both countries will strengthen their human resource capacity through sector-specific in-country training in Mauritius and training at reputed institutions in India through customized schemes and facilitating the transfer of latest technology, state of the art equipment and materials, and share best practices.

Background :

Both countries have a large segment of their population living in rural areas and are pre-dominantly dependent on agriculture and its allied activities for their livelihoods.

The MoU was signed taking into consideration the institutional arrangement for bilateral cooperation between India and Mauritius in the field of rural development and poverty alleviation.

China inducted its largest indigenously-built transport aircraft Y-20, marking a crucial step in military aviation technology for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) that allows the world's largest force to transport cargo and troops over long distances in diverse weather conditions.

Key facts about Y-20 aircraft :

Y-20 has a maximum take off weight of 200 tonnes. It is ideal for transporting cargo and personnel over long distances in diverse weather conditions.

Its induction will enable PLA Air Force to better fulfil its military responsibilities, including safeguarding national security as well as domestic and international rescue and relief work.

The indigenously designed and developed Y-20 officially joined the PLA Air Force in Chengdu. It is ideal for transporting cargo and personnel over long distances in diverse weather conditions.

The plane is comparable to the Russian-made IL-76 and US made C-17. It is more advance than the IL-476. The plane made its maiden flight in January 2013 and underwent trials runs including in the rugged Tibetan terrain.

Its induction will make easier for Chinese PLA to deploy troops, enable military to act more promptly and respond to emergencies in a better manner.

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